Final Forge

Final Forge offers a fun and engaging core loop centered on defending your tower, gathering resources under a tight wave timer, and upgrading your setup for your Dwarf, cannon, and ballista to balloons, traps, and the horn. Collecting all the anvil parts to complete a run, and the upgrade system alongside overall balance feels surprisingly solid. I was even able to finish the entire game on my second attempt! However, there are a few significant issues with the experience: Minimal Roguelike Elements: Despite the tag, there isn't much actual roguelike variety or randomized progression across runs. Maybe the enemy units, or even the resource nodes? Brutal Early-Game Pacing: After the third wave, the difficulty spikes massively. You are forced to rush constantly without a proper introduction or tutorial on where, what, or how to efficiently collect resources. This creates a frustrating and desperate experience until you force yourself to adapt. UFOs: Extremely frustrating to deal with because the main bombard cannon can't hit them. You are forced to rely on the automated Ballista which you can't manually control and often prioritizes other ground targets instead, not even your explosive balloons counter them, unless the UFOs ramm directly into those...Or you use the horn. The Horn: The horn acts as a full screen-wipe, which feels great, but getting to that point requires frantic rushing, or as a panic button rather then another weapon to use agains the enemy. Clunky Controls: The Dwarf's gathering mechanics can feel a bit whacky and unreliable when attempting to start harvesting nodes. Suggestions for the Developers: Difficulty Settings: Adding difficulty options would make the game far more approachable for different playstyles and a wide audiance Better Onboarding: Give players a bit more time at the start to get accustomed to the map layout and resource loops before throwing intense timers and flying enemies at them. Perhaps also different canons or weapons to fight those air units... 7.5/10 from me, worth the 3 euros for sure! Those interested in my playtrough, here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDeh2WYSf6g8